The Church that forms the body of Christ is subdivided into three levels: the Church Militant, the Church Penitent, and the Church Triumphant. Here on earth, we are members of the Church Militant. That is a reminder that we are in a battle, a battle against the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. As Knights of Columbus, we have volunteered to be on the front lines of that battle. We are Christ’s “shock troops.” That’s what we signed up to do.
That extra one hour a month of work on your interior faith life that I’m asking everyone for? That’s to strengthen you for your fight against the Flesh. The other hour of work a month I’m asking everyone for, the one doing work for the Knights? That’s the hour where we bring our faith into a World that is under assault by the Devil.
When Jesus Christ founded his Church—our Church—what did he say? “We’re going to build gates and hell shall not prevail against them”? No! He said, “I will form my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Think about that. He wasn’t saying that his Church was going to sit back and wait for him to come again at the end of the world. He was giving his lieutenants marching orders to go out and storm the gates of hell. He was forming an army to go on the offensive and attack.
As Knights of Columbus serving our Church on the front lines, the World is our battleground. We are doing battle against the culture of death. We are spreading the faith to the faithless. And we rescue the lonely and assist the widows and the poor. That is what we signed up to do, gentlemen. That is what the men in the Knights of Columbus are expected to do.
You all know I am really into saints, so I’d like to give you one to think about. Around the year 1600, St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen gave up his life as a lawyer to answer the call to the priesthood. He became a Capuchin and was martyred trying to convert Protestants in Switzerland. He said, “Woe to me if I should prove myself but a half-hearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain.”
So let me ask: Are we a bunch of whiny boys or are we men? Are you a half-hearted soldier or a Knight of Columbus on the front lines? Your brother Knights, this Council, this parish, our community, and our Church… they all need you to be on the front lines, arm-in-arm. Our thorn-crowned Captain needs us to to be on the front lines.
So let me be clear about what we need to be successful in our mission: as Knights, we need to rely on each other, help each other, and trust each other.
When a brother Knight puts out a call for volunteers, he is preparing to go into battle. He is rallying his brothers-in-arms and relying on his brother Knights to step into the breech. Are you going to step up and say, “I’ll go into battle with you, brother!” whenever the call for volunteers goes out?
When a brother Knight is running something—like a diaper drive or a fundraiser—he is already engaged in battle. Remember the Second Degree? Unity? Well, do you think that the Devil wants us to be successful in our battle? No! He’s going to try and stop us. He’s going to put obstacles in our way. Sometimes your brother Knight will be in the middle of battle and need an extra hand at the last minute. Don’t be a half-hearted soldier. Rush to the aid of your brother Knight. If knights in battle are not united and don’t help each other in the middle of a battle, we will lose that battle. Don’t let your brother Knight down because “I already did my shift.”
And when you are in the middle of a battle… you need to trust your brother Knights. In the middle of combat against the Devil, there is no room and no time for distrust of brother Knights. If each of us is a man of honor and integrity, then there is no reason for a brother to not trust us, and no reason to not trust a brother Knight.
Every day is a battle, gentlemen. But united in charity and faith with Christ our thorn-crowned Captain leading us into that battle, the gates of hell shall not prevail against us!
With that, let me share our “battle plan.”
I met with our council offers a few weeks ago and we put together a “battle plan” for our council for the next fraternal year. You can view it here: https://kofc11445.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2024-2025-Fraternal-Year-plan.pdf
We have two pressing items coming up that need men to step up.
First, the festival liquor wagon, which has the potential to substantially benefit our general fund. We need donations of liquor and volunteers to pull the wagon and sell tickets. Get your donations to Greg Kociba or myself as soon as possible. You can email him here, or drop donations off in the bin he has on his front porch at 477 Olenwood Ave. We also need men to sign up to pull the wagon here: https://kofc11445.com/volunteer-opportunities/?sheet_id=49
Second, on November 9th we, along with the councils from OLP and IC, are hosting an estate planning and fraternal benefits event with dinner. It will take place at St. Michael’s, and be open to parishioners from all three parishes, limited to 75 guests. We will need men to plan and coordinate the meal prep and serving. Can you step up to help out? Contact myself or Michael Chadwick.